TAXI licence fees are set to rise in North Wiltshire. The district council, which covers Wootton Bassett, Cricklade, and surrounding villages, intends to raise its charges for taxi and minicab licences by three per cent next year.

Under the new fees detailed in a council report, the licence fees for new hackney carriage and private hire drivers will go from £131 this year to £135 next year while renewals will go from £78 to £80.

The number of hackney carriage vehicles is expected to rise by one next year to 165 while private hire vehicles jump from 24 to 27.

continued…
The total number of licensed drivers is expected to drop from 282 to 280.

Since the council decided in 2001 to deregulate the number of private hire vehicles it licensed, the number of minicabs has gone from 106 to 164.

The council decided to raise licence fees to cover the cost of regulating the industry in the area.

http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/headlines/